The present invention is in the field of text entry. More particularly, the present invention relates to methods and arrangements to auto-complete user-entered text.
Users of applications that accept text entry, such as Instant Message (IM) clients and email programs, often type keywords or phrases that they have previously typed or previously seen in a text document. For example, an IM user may use some words or phrases regularly. Examples include information about the user's availability such as, “Sorry, on a call right now. Will ping you later”; “long” keywords or phrases, such as “polymorphism” or “IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager (ITCAM)”; or a referral for a certain expertise. For instance, an IM user may type a message to another contact saying: “For the ABC problem in product XYZ, you can contact Joe Somebody, as he is the developer of that component. His short name is joesomebody@us.ibm.com”. Similarly, a user may email or IM friends about a recently viewed web page.
In current applications that accept text entry, entering text that a user has previously typed or viewed may require manually performing a laborious and time-consuming series of steps. Below is an example of the manual method, in a scenario in which a user repeatedly asks permission to use a resource:                [Danny→Brent]:                    Danny: “Are you using the CCT Dev machine? It won't accept my connection because someone else is logged on.”            Brent: “No. Try checking with Dave.”                        [Danny→Dave]                    Danny: “Are you using the CCT Dev machine? It won't accept my connection because someone else is logged on.”            Dave: “No. Try checking with Sherry and Eileen.”                        [Danny→Sherry/Eileen]                    Danny: “Are you using the CCT Dev machine? It won't accept my connection because someone else is logged on.”                        
In this scenario, Danny continues to ask the same question and provide the same explanation to other IM users. To avoid retyping, Danny may perform the typical steps of copying and pasting. These steps include:                1. Locate the previous text. Right click on the Contact name>Choose Show>Chat History. To execute this step, Danny must know the person he was chatting with and the location of the text within the chat.        2. Search for the chat history text.        3. Highlight the text.        4. Hit Ctrl-C to copy.        5. Go to the new chat window.        6. Paste the text.        7. Modify the text as necessary.        8. Hit ENTER to send message.The above example described entering text a user had previously typed. The process of entering text from a text document that the user had recently viewed is similar. In particular, to use a phrase in a blog or web article requires locating the web page. In either case, the steps are time consuming and require knowledge of the source of the text to be reused.        